“They’re creating a situation where there’s going to be intense pressure put on the districts to move as many students out of special ed and into general ed without the funding for the extra support services,” said Ed Leahy, president of New York United Special Ed Parents, a group of 300 parents of special-ed students citywide.

Pataki’s plan calls for school districts to get annual fixed-aid packages based on poverty levels and overall enrollment, rather than on a per-pupil basis, as is done now.

It would also limit special-ed growth to 2 percent a year.

The Board of Education and parents support Pataki’s general move to cut the number of kids in expensive special-ed programs.

Last month, Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew was happy to announce that the number of city special-ed kids is rising this year at a slower pace than it did last year.

About 11,600 kids had been referred to special ed by the end of January – a 25 percent drop from the 15,400 who had been referred by the same time last year.

But critics complain that, unlike in past budgets, the governor’s 1999-2000 spending proposal doesn’t include a boost in funding specifically earmarked for support services – such as speech therapists – that some kids need in general-education classes.

“This money is vital to our reform efforts to integrate more special-ed kids in the regular class,” said Board of Ed lobbyist Stephen Allinger.